Teachers Guide

Look inside for

STEM-friendly
activities that
meet Common
Core State
Standards!

About the Book

Glip! Glop! Gloop! What looks like dog vomit, smells like a corpse
flower, and stars in one of the scariest movies Stink Moody has ever
seen? Is it the Glob? Son of Glob? No, its . . . slime mold! Stink may
be a super science geek, but even Dr. Stinkelstein is feeling freaked out
about having a slime mold living and growing in his very own room.
Vintage horror flicks meet classic Star Trek episodes as a wary Stink
(with some help from Dr. Judy Moody) comes to know and love an
unusual new pet in a hilarious adventure that sneaks in some slime
mold facts and follies in each chapter.
HC: 978-0-7636-5554-9
Also available as an e-book and in audio

Common Core Connections

Educators! Crawl slowly for your lives! As Stink

kicks off his second decade with this super-funny
homage to an oozy-goozy organism, you now
have these Stink-errific (and educational) corresponding book activities your students will love.
The activities in this guide are designed to make
cross-curriculum learning exciting as they add
to your Common Core State Standard and STEMapproved lessons.

Candlewick Press Teachers Guide Stink and the Attack of the Slime Mold www.candlewick.com page 1
Stink. Stink is a registered trademark of Candlewick Press, Inc. Illustrations copyright 2016 by Peter H. Reynolds.

Candlewick Press TEACHERS Guide

Gloopy, Globby Blobs

You cant talk about oozy blobs and slime mold without your students wanting to make their own. Follow these easy steps to make some (almost) messfree blobs in your classroom.
Moldy Materials
4 oz. Elmers white glue
1 1/2 cups water
Mixing spoon
Two bowls
Food coloring
1 tsp borax (you can find this in the laundry detergent aisle)

COMMON CORE CONNECTIONS

Speaking & Listening: Comprehension
and Collaboration SL.1.13.1: Participate
in collaborative conversations with
diverse partners about grade-specific
topics and texts with peers and adults in
small and larger groups.

Stinky Steps
1. Mix 4 ounces of glue with 1/2 cup of water in one bowl.
2. Stir in desired food coloring.
3. Mix 1 teaspoon of borax with 1 cup of water in the second bowl.
4. Pour the contents of bowl one into bowl two while slowly stirring. A gloopy,
globby blob will start to form right away.
5. Keep stirring as long as you can, then knead it with your hands until its
not sticky anymore.
Encourage your students to talk about their experience with this science
experiment. Note that what they have created is not slime mold, but it is slimy
and will grow mold (though not slime mold) if it isnt stored in a plastic bag
and refrigerated when they are finished experimenting with it. Discuss the
fact that slime molds are single-celled organisms and how they differ from the
mold that students might find on old bread.
If you want to do a slime mold project la Mrs. Rottenbergers Science Club,
you will need to collect slime mold samples from a wooded area or buy them
from a scientific supplier.

Stinks Friday Night Freak Fest

The Moody family have an eye-popping time at the Stardust Drive-in Movie
Theaters Friday Night Freak Fest. Have your students design their own movie
posters for an imaginary Friday Night Freak Fest that would take place at your
school. Instruct them to include the names of the movies they would show
(real or made-up), a date and time, and a tagline to promote the festival.
Suggest that they design their posters with drawings and pictures from old
magazines and images printed out from the Internet. Then have each student
write a paragraph persuading others to attend their festival and present their
Friday Night Freak Fest plans to the class.

COMMON CORE CONNECTIONS

Writing: Text Types and Purposes
W.1.23.2: Write informative/explanatory
texts.
Speaking & Listening: Comprehension
and Collaboration SL.1.13.1: Participate
in collaborative conversations with
diverse partners about grade-specific
topics and texts with peers and adults in
small and larger groups.

Candlewick Press Teachers Guide Stink and the Attack of the Slime Mold www.candlewick.com page 2
Stink. Stink is a registered trademark of Candlewick Press, Inc. Illustrations copyright 2016 by Peter H. Reynolds.

Candlewick Press TEACHERS Guide

Attack of the Glob Monster

After seeing The Glob at the Stardust, Stink has nightmares about blobbyglobby goo taking over the earth. Brainstorm with your class about the reasons Stink has these nightmares and why people have nightmares in general.
Then have your students write narratives describing Stinks glob-monster
nightmare and invite them to share their stories with the class.

A Joke a Day Keeps the Slime Mold Away

The author of Stink and the Attack of the Slime Mold, Megan McDonald, uses
a lot of puns and plays on language throughout the book. For example, on
page 54 Stink goes to ask for a Cheerio and could use some cheery-o-ing
up. Talk to your class about puns (jokes that use words that sound alike
but have different meanings, or that use a secondary meaning of a word to
make something funny). Have your students go back through the book to
find funny puns and word jokes. Then ask them to create their own puns to
share withand entertainthe class.

A Meal Fit for a Slime Mold King

In order to help Mr. McGoo grow by leaps and blobs, Stink feeds his slime
mold foods such as oatmeal, Cheerios, and rice puffs. Since slime mold is
actually a single-celled organism, it can eat real food. Ask your students to
create a menu to serve Mr. McGoo that consists of their favorite foods. Have
them design a menu where they name and describe a three-course meal to
share with the slime mold. Be sure to invite students to share their favorite
slime moldinspired dish with the class. Blob apptit!

COMMON CORE CONNECTIONS

Writing: Text Types and Purposes W.2.3:
Write narratives in which they recount a
well-elaborated event or short sequence
of events, include details to describe
actions, thoughts, and feelings, use
temporal words to signal event order,
and provide a sense of closure.
Speaking & Listening: Comprehension
and Collaboration SL.1.13.1: Participate
in collaborative conversations with
diverse partners about grade-specific
topics and texts with peers and adults in
small and larger groups.

COMMON CORE CONNECTIONS

Speaking & Listening: Comprehension
and Collaboration SL.1.13.1:
Participate in collaborative conversations
with diverse partners about gradespecific topics and texts with peers and
adults in small and larger groups.
Language: Vocabulary Acquisition and
Use L.1.43.4: Determine or clarify the
meaning of unknown and multiplemeaning words and phrases based on
grade-specific reading and content.
Language: Vocabulary Acquisition and
Use L.1.63.6: Use words and phrases
acquired through conversations, reading
and being read to, and responding to
texts.

COMMON CORE CONNECTIONS

Writing: Text Types and Purposes
W.1.23.2: Write informative/explanatory
texts.
Speaking & Listening: Comprehension
and Collaboration SL.1.13.1: Participate
in collaborative conversations with
diverse partners about grade-specific
topics and texts with peers and adults in
small and larger groups.

Candlewick Press Teachers Guide Stink and the Attack of the Slime Mold www.candlewick.com page 3
Stink. Stink is a registered trademark of Candlewick Press, Inc. Illustrations copyright 2016 by Peter H. Reynolds.

Candlewick Press TEACHERS Guide

Orange Cheese Dust from Outer Space

Stink gets glib-globbing mad at Riley for accidentally firing an Unidentified
Flying Sneeze on Mr. McGoo. He looks at the bag of cheese doodles she was
eating and finds out that her cheese dust is made of ingredients such as
disodium phosphate, dextrose, artificial flavor, artificial color, disodium
blah-blah, more disodium blah-blah. And dont forget corn syrup (page 67).
Have your students look up the ingredients of their favorite snack foods,
research what they are, and write a paragraph on their findings.

Stink-y Slime Mold Memories

Each chapter of Stink and the Attack of the Slime Mold ends with a comic
featuring cool facts and fantasies about slime mold. Ask your students to
write and illustrate a comic starring Stink and Mr. McGoo that includes one
interesting fact about slime mold. Be sure to invite students to share their
finished creations with the class. You may wish to publish all of the comics
in a collaborative comic compendium.

COMMON CORE CONNECTIONS

Writing: Research to Build and Present

Knowledge W.1.72.7: Participate in
shared research and writing projects.
Writing: Research to Build and Present
Knowledge W.3.7: Conduct short
research projects that build knowledge
about a topic.
Writing: Research to Build and Present
Knowledge W.1.82.8: Recall information
from experiences or gather information
from provided sources to answer a
question.
Writing: Research to Build and Present
Knowledge W.3.8: Recall information
from experiences or gather information
from print and digital sources; take brief
notes on sources and sort evidence into
provided categories.
Language: Vocabulary Acquisition and
Use L.1.43.4: Determine or clarify the
meaning of unknown and multiplemeaning words and phrases based on
grade-specific reading and content.
Language: Vocabulary Acquisition and
Use L.1.63.6: Use words and phrases
acquired through conversations, reading
and being read to, and responding to
texts.

COMMON CORE CONNECTIONS

Writing: Text Types and Purposes

W.1.23.2: Write informative/explanatory
texts.
Speaking & Listening: Comprehension
and Collaboration SL.1.13.1: Participate
in collaborative conversations with
diverse partners about grade-specific
topics and texts with peers and adults in
small and larger groups.

Candlewick Press Teachers Guide Stink and the Attack of the Slime Mold www.candlewick.com page 4
Stink. Stink is a registered trademark of Candlewick Press, Inc. Illustrations copyright 2016 by Peter H. Reynolds.

Candlewick Press TEACHERS Guide

Freaky-Stinky Factoids
Stink and the Attack of the Slime Mold is oozing with facts about slime mold. Read the
following statements and decide which are true and which are false. Put an X in front
of the false statements, then rewrite them and make them true.
1. Slime mold is a single-celled mineral.
2. Slime mold can join with other slime molds.
3. Some slime molds can grow to be as big as three hundred feet across.
4. In order to thrive, slime mold should be kept in a bright and hot place.
5. Slime mold is not an animal.
6. Slime mold grows like a toadstool but is not a fungus.
7. It takes a very long time for slime mold to grow.
8. There are some things slime mold wont eat.
9. A slime molds spores can spread.
10. Slime mold can shrivel up if kept in a cold environment.

Answers: 1. false: Slime mold is a single-celled organism; 2. true; 3. false: Some slime molds can grow to be as big as three feet across;
4. false: In order to thrive, slime mold should be kept in a dark and warm place; 5. true; 6. true;
7. false: It takes a very short time for slime mold to grow; 8. true; 9. true; 10. true

Candlewick Press Teachers Guide Stink and the Attack of the Slime Mold www.candlewick.com page 5
Stink. Stink is a registered trademark of Candlewick Press, Inc. Illustrations copyright 2016 by Peter H. Reynolds.

Candlewick Press TEACHERS Guide

Its a Goo(d) Time To . . .

Stink uses military time to talk about events throughout Stink and the
Attack of the Slime Mold. Military time uses a twenty-four-hour clock
instead of the twelve-hour clock most of us are used to. It counts the
hours of the day from 1 to 24, rather than repeating 1 to 12. Military
time starts at 0000 hours (12 a.m.) and goes to 2359 hours (11:59 p.m.).
It does not have notations for a.m. and p.m. Using this information,
convert the following twelve-hour clock times into military time.

1. 1 a.m.

7. 3:42 p.m.

2. 4:58 a.m.

8. 6:17 p.m.

3. 5:25 a.m.

9. 8 p.m.

4. 7 a.m.

10. 11:05 p.m.

5. 10:39 a.m.

11. 12 a.m.

6. 12 p.m.

Answers: 1. 0100 2. 0458 3. 0525 4. 0700 5. 1039 6. 1200 7. 1542 8. 1817 9. 2000 10. 2305 11. 0000

Candlewick Press Teachers Guide Stink and the Attack of the Slime Mold www.candlewick.com page 6
Stink. Stink is a registered trademark of Candlewick Press, Inc. Illustrations copyright 2016 by Peter H. Reynolds.

Candlewick Press TEACHERS Guide

Captains Log
Just like Captain Kirk in Star Trek, Stink Moody records his observations of
Mr. McGoo in a very efficient log. Find something interesting to observe for
one week and write down your daily Stink-tastic observations here.

CAPTAINS LOG:
SLIMEDATE 3196.2
CAPTAINS LOG:
SLIMEDATE 3196.3

CAPTAINS LOG:
SLIMEDATE 3196.1

CAPTAINS LOG:
SLIMEDATE 3196.5

CAPTAINS LOG:
SLIMEDATE 3196.4

CAPTAINS LOG:
SLIMEDATE 3196.6
CAPTAINS LOG:
SLIMEDATE 3196.7

Candlewick Press Teachers Guide Stink and the Attack of the Slime Mold www.candlewick.com page 7
Stink. Stink is a registered trademark of Candlewick Press, Inc. Illustrations copyright 2016 by Peter H. Reynolds.